Numerous surgical instruments for the suturing of human or animal tissues by physically or chemically attaching the tissue to the suture material are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,239 to Sinofsky and U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,934 to Sawyer both disclose examples of laying down a layer of energy reactive adhesive material along the incision and closing the incision by applying energy (either optical or RF energy) to the adhesive and surrounding tissue. The applied energy denatures the filler material and adjacent biological tissue. The reaction occurs to different degrees depending on the type, amount and intensity of energy applied. The denatured tissue and filler mix and when cooled harden to essentially glue the tissue together. Drawbacks to the disclosed methods include the need to physically place the adhesive material on the wound site, the cumbersome and thus inaccurate direction of the energy beam, both disclosures require that the surgeon manipulate several instruments to accomplish the task including physically holding the tissue in place and neither of patented devices or methods that may be readily used during arthroscopic procedures, such as meniscus repair.
It also known in the art that it may be desirable to mechanically attach the tissue to an anchor wherein the anchor is attached to "thread-type" sutures which are then used to sew up the incision such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,676. There is also the conventional approach to joining tissue segments by employing mechanical sutures or staples. This suffers from the draw back that use of conventional sutures may leave gaps between stitches and requires several steps to complete a stitch. Additionally both conventional staples and sutures do not chemically bind or mechanically attach to the tissue, thus they may move about or slip.
There remains a need in the art for a less complex, and more precise instrument for binding or securing together incisions or injured tissue in a variety of surgical procedures, particularly in arthroscopic procedures.